5 Midnigh
"Wake up! Wake up, son!", Erza shakes him up and said in a low voice.
"I think there's something that is lurking outside the gardens and it disturbs my sleep. I think you need to alarm the guards", she said to him.
"Okay, mom. But I will check it out myself. You alarm the guards so you will be safe", he said to his mom.
"Okay I will let you check it out, but promise me to be safe", she said to him.
"Okay", he said as he kissed her cheeks.
Mael equipped his sword and leather armor as well as a robe to cover his body. He scanned outside the front yard and there are tracks left. Based on the tracks, whatever that creature was, it is definitely not human. As he observed, it is walking on fours and it was heading to the backyard. He followed the trails and he is walking very slowly, hearing his own footsteps on the gra.s.s. When he walked farther and farther from his home, he entered the starting point of their maze-like garden located in their backyard. He saw that the trails are ending and he felt being followed. He heard the rustling sounds from the distance, which made him unsheathed his sword from the scabbard.
In a night sky filled with stars, the moon illuminated his path through it's dim light. Thanks to that he can clearly see his surroundings. The rustling was getting nearer and nearer then his heart stopped for a second.
From the tall bush, a monster jumped on the air and attacked him. It was a human-like creature that had claws and was skinny. With the light of the moon, its face is revealed. It had a rotten face with wide jaws and saw-like teeth. A ghoul to be exact. He saw its drawings and representations in the monster bibliography since he's a kid.
Mael stepped back when it attacked. Thus, he evades its strike. He then countered the monster, but only cutting its hide. Not its flesh. It was not cut, but it was thrown to the bushes by the impact of the sword. He chased it, but it disappeared in the dark maze.
Mael panicked and hastily exited, but the creature was already lying dead. Headless. It was killed by their butler Malidic Greenfield, he swings the sword to remove the blood and sheaths it.
"Young master! I'm glad you're okay! Don't worry about the monsters, they're all disposed of. As of now, the mansion is secured, but this is new for them to come to this far. What is really happening?", he said to Mael.
"I don't know, but this is bad", he replied.
His mother then came to them running, while she is escorted by their personal guards.
"I'm glad you're safe! I'm worried about you! Are you hurt somewhere?", she said as she surveyed his body.
"Guards escort young master Mael on his quarters", she ordered.
"Mom, there's no need. If you're worried about me then I'm moved. But as the lord of the land, I need to know what is happening right now.
"Okay, I understand that you're responsible for the welfare of the people. But don't overexert yourself. You're still young and had a bright future ahead. I will give you half of our personal guards, as well the elites. But promise me to be safe, okay?", she said in a serious manner.
"Okay, mom. I promise.", he said as he kissed her in the cheeks.
Mael prepared his potion belt, sword, and armor. He a.s.sembled the troops when a man shouts at them while running hastily.
"Help! There are monsters attacking the town!", he shouts to them in the middle of the night.
Mael verified the person and he was b.l.o.o.d.y. He had a big open wound on his stomach and blood was gus.h.i.+ng from it. Mael grabbed his health potion on his belt and he applied it to the wound, then the half was consumed by the person.
Immediately, the wound was slowly closing and the person was starting to feel better. He told them to save the people, because there are monsters that are killing the townspeople.
The guards were moved and Mael was stricken by anger. He immediately gave instructions to them.
"Form in four groups and each will be a.s.signed to each respective area. First, we will go to the town center and then spread out to the north, south, east and, west of the town then we will give signals to each of the mission statuses. Now move!", he ordered them.
Mael and his troops are running fast in the road and they are nearing the town, they saw from the distance the patrols, as well as other normal citizens armed with pitchforks, are fighting the monsters. Mael ordered them to initiate a fight and kill them immediately.
Some civilians that were wounded was lying on the roads and others were desperately fending off the ghouls. His troops are fighting the ghouls and some beheaded them immediately. Mael confronted one when a kid was cornered by one ghoul and then beheaded it. She then found by her mom that had a bite on her shoulders.
Mael and his troops move forward, killing the monsters in the way until they arrive at the town center.
The monsters were coming from all directions and they are encircled and surrounded. The monsters are drawn to the living and they sensed them. Mael is at the center and they are all ready to fight.
Mael then gave them monster attractants to each squad.
"After you've arrived at the four directions, you have to use the monster attractants to lure them to this town center where we stand now. We will then exterminate them once and for all", Mael gave orders and they moved immediately.
The monsters attacked his four squads when they go to the four different directions, but they stopped. The monsters are ignoring them and they pa.s.sed through. The monsters are just pa.s.sing them and when they looked back, they saw the young master battling them all.
"Young master!", shouted some of his troops.
"Finish your mission! That's an order!", he shouted in the center.
The troops were disheartened, but they still chose to obey their master. They dashed to the streets illuminated by street lamps and the ghouls were ignoring them. They successfully arrived at the four different directions and released the monster attractant where the monster attractant of Mael can't reach. The luring was a success and they fired a signal of mission success by a magic device that releases lights in the sky.
North, South and, East fired a signal of success. But the signal of the west is delayed. Later on, the rescue signal was fired.
They were now coming to the meeting place and they were chased by ghouls, hoping for their master to hold out until they come. Mael was battling them and his slashes are deep, but their skin could recover fast. He can only fend them off, because of their numbers that exceed a hundred. Mael was pressured and currently fighting alone. He activated his aura and used his body enhancement and force. The enemies was blown with each punch, but it's quite draining. He did his best to fend them off and it works. His aura damage was working and some who can't resist the pain collapsed. They all collapsed, but they were quite persistent and attacks again.
The west squad was outnumbered and their escape route was blocked. The number of ghouls on the west was greater than those on the town square. They keep on getting bigger. It seems that they were coming from the west. They were on the verge of surrendering after they fought for an hour and their health potions have run out.
They were making a circle to protect the wounded in the middle.
"We're surrounded! What do we do?", asked one that holds a halberd.
"We fired the rescue signal. Better be saved than killed", said the one who treats the wound.
"We can still hold them back, but not forever", said the one who held a sword and s.h.i.+eld.
"Let's pray that they will come on time", said the one with a halberd.
The monsters had now surrounded them and they all wailed in the night then attacks. The ghouls smashed the one with a s.h.i.+eld, but were slashed by the halberd. The halberd bearer was slashed by the other ghouls and his armor was pierced through.
"Help him!", shouted their senior.
They dragged him at the center and one is added to the wounded. The ghouls slammed through their defense and almost slashed the one who treats the wounded, but a sword flew and pierced through the skull.
They recognized the hilt of the sword and they knew the owner of the sword. It's their young master!
"East squad and North squad, defend!, South squad treat the west squad!", Mael commanded them.
The west squad almost burst on tears. They had lost hope a second ago and accepted their fates, but here they are alive.
Mael then released his aura and rampaged with force applied.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound resounded for several minutes until they were all killed. They roared with their victory shout and Mael nearly cried.
"I'm so glad everyone's safe", he said.